The Roman a Clef diva on naked manicures, sequined (male!) producers, those Vanity Fair parties -- and who's who in her latest, Hollywood Divorces.
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SAY WHAT YOU WILL, it's a fab time to be Jackie Collins. Although she's made some critics curl their lips since the late 1960s when she first began writing novels, she's somehow soldiered on, turning out 23 bestselling romans à clef, all juicy and racy, including The Stud, Lucky _and _Lady Boss. In the face of 400 million books sold in 40 countries, who can doubt Collins will spin gold again with her latest page-turner, Hollywood Divorces, about three women at different points in their careers who look like they've got everything going for them but get caught up in really ugly divorces? Unlike the women in most of her earlier books, who do little more than sit around talking about the opposite sex, these actresses and directors are all doing better than the men in their lives. But as with her other books, Hollywood Divorces will have tongues wagging over whom Collins is really talking about.
On other fronts, Collins remains on a roll. This past October, CBS aired Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, an enjoyable glitz-fest TV movie she executive-produced from her novel. She's also developing a romantic comedy with Focus Features, the company behind Lost in Translation and 21 Grams. We caught up with her in her swank, Deco-inflected Beverly Hills home, where she was looking great and ready to dish.
HOLLYWOOD LIFE: We can hazard a guess about what might have inspired Hollywood Divorces, but why don't you tell us?
JACKIE COLLINS: When Meg Ryan's divorce was very high-profile, Tom Cruise's as well, I just kept thinking about how these huge stars who seemed to have settled into marriage were getting divorced. I've always been fascinated by divorces, because in California they are so bizarre. Especially when they involve women who lose their celebrity status because they're no longer married to famous men.
Q: Part of the fun of all your books is guessing which character is based on which real-life person. I'll never, never tell.
A: Well, let's see now. Hollywood Divorces features a famed actress letting it all hang out in a very dramatic role that lets her step out from the shadow of a boozing, womanizing older action star. We know her. Then there's a hugely ambitious, nasty Latina superstar looking to dump a studly husband so she can trade up. Check. [Laughing] And don't forget the third female character, Cat, the 19-year-old movie director, who is like whoever did The Blair Witch Project--smart enough to get it promoted on the Internet and old for her age, as I was. At 19, I'd already had a wild life. I had kids; I was married. There's a little of myself as a youth in her.
Q: Did you ever encounter, as Cat does, a mogul who demands that you service him orally?
A: [Laughing] No, but she has my attitude, which would have been, "What the fuck is this?" Lola, though, the Latina character, is my favorite. She's so great to write about. The book has a lot to do with how media scrutiny in Hollywood ruins relationships.
Q: Do people play up to you, hoping you'll write about them?
A: I know that a lot of actors and actresses read my books and love them. They're much more entertaining than books we've had recently by bitter screenwriters that say, "This is the real Hollywood" and are all about getting stabbed in the back or screenplays that never get made. People say about my books, "They're just her fantasy," but they're about people I've observed all my life. I know the foibles of stars, the stories of the girls who slept their way down the ladder. At a dinner party the other night, I said to a very famous movie star who's a notorious womanizer, "So, carrying on the way you do, I hope you always use a condom." He said, "Nope." I said, "Are you kidding? Do you know the trouble you could get into?" But he just smiled and said, "It's worth it." And he's telling me this!
I can't write the real truth about people. I have to tone it down or you wouldn't like any of the characters. I want to ask the people who say my books are over the top, "Don't you read the magazines and tabloids?" But they don't seem to know about things like the famous actress who, if she's at a hotel, likes to walk around in the nude and have her manicures and pedicures while stark naked. You know exactly who it is. She's fond of staying at the Chateau Marmont. [Laughing] I got it from the horse's mouth, but I can't write it any more than I can write about the famous producer who likes to hide in his wife's closet wearing a blue sequined dress while she gets it on with girls, then jump out at the last minute and say, "Surprise!"
Q: Are you a big partygoer?
A: The one party I don't miss is the Vanity Fair Oscar party, where I have the best time. I listen in the ladies's room. Outrageous things happen, like the night Anna Nicole Smith took off her knickers and was just sitting like--[eyes at half-mast, legs askew]--and I was like, "Oh, no!" Of course, I was there the night Ellen DeGeneres first met Anne Heche and the night P. Diddy came in after he had broken up with Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer was there with her entourage, and they all were avoiding each other.
Q: What's your idea of kicking back?
A: Going somewhere very peaceful like Bali with a fabulous view of the sea and sand with only a suitcase full of books. I'd just sit in the shade because I don't sit in the sun anymore. I used to be addicted to it when I got to California, I suppose because I'm English. I did it for two years before saying, "I can't do this anymore." And you're never tan enough. It's like the girls in this town having their lips done. Their asses are now on their lips, which gives a whole new meaning to "kiss my ass."
Q: What movie about Hollywood feels "right" to you?
A: Swimming with Sharks.
Q: Favorite inside-Hollywood book?
A: Even though Julia Phillips dissed me in it, her You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again was un-put-down-able. She was so mean about people. I loved it.
Q: What's your idea of a dream review for Hollywood Divorces?
A: "She really gets it!"